No opponents for pair of seats on Greenfield school board

GREENFIELD — A two-term school board veteran and a political newcomer will run unopposed on the ballot this spring for two vacant Greenfield School Committee seats.

Maryelen Calderwood, of 82 Sanderson St., and Adrienne Marie Nunez, of 71 Conway St., were the only candidates who filed nomination papers by Tuesday’s deadline. They will run for two three-year seats during the June election.

Calderwood, a 51-year-old Greenfield High School alumna and vice-chairwoman of the committee, won elections to the school board in 2008 and 2011. She has a son in the Greenfield school system.

“I want to see a greener, healthier and safer school system,” said Calderwood, who currently leads a subcommittee that tackles those issues. “I’d like to see all of the initiatives that we’ve started in (that) area finished out to completion.”

She also would like to help the school department develop a special education parent advisory council and introduce new health, civics and foreign language classes into the curriculum.

Nunez, 32, has never run for office before in town. She is a book designer and publishing assistant for Echo Point Books & Media in Brattleboro, Vt.

“I am very interested in doing what I can to help improve the schools,” said Nunez, who is interested in bringing sustainability and farm-to-school ideas into the school system.

Current school board member Daryl Essensa decided not to run again when her term expires at the end of May. Essensa, a co-chairwoman of the superintendent search committee and a member of the Greenfield School Building Committee, lost a race in 2010 but then won an election the following year for a 3-year term.

Essensa, a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts, said it was a difficult decision to not run again — but that she needs to dedicate her time to transitioning into a new career and taking care of her mother.